1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to devices for holding advertising or noncommercial signs. More particularly, it relates to an attractive sign holder that is releasably attachable to poles without requiring tools and which protects signs from the elements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
People holding yard sales, garage sales, and the like often attach posters or other informal signs to telephone poles or other post means to advertise their events. Certain sellers of computer memory and other goods or services also employ the same technique to avoid the high cost of formal outdoor advertising billboards.
Such handmade signs are somewhat unsightly and as a result many cities have passed ordinances banning them. The signs are also unprotected from the weather, so they become even more unsightly when rained upon. Moreover, since the signs are usually attached to the post means by very casual means, they are easily taken down by wind or passers-by.
More sophisticated sign holders are also well known, but have not gained consumer acceptance due to their complicated designs, their expense, and other factors such as aesthetics, the need to employ tools when installing them, and so on.
What is needed, then, is an inexpensive sign holder that is attractive in appearance, which may be installed and removed from a post means without tools, and which protects the sign from the effects of weather.
An arcuate compression clamp having utility as a sign holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,978 to Current. The clamp releasably engages an elongate cylindrical rod that forms a part of a horizontally disposed display rack and includes a radially extending base to which a sign may be engaged. The sign is always used indoors, and no means are provided or suggested for protecting the sign from the elements. Moreover, the device includes a card holder that engages a card or other sign along its lowermost edge only, i.e., the remaining edges of the sign or card are not secured by the card holder.
Three signs are attached to a parking meter by the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,196 to Sandahl, Jr. et. al. However, each sign must be bolted to a support plate, so changing signs is not easy. Nor are the signs protected from the elements.
Neuendorf et.al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,672, disclose a sign holder that is bolted to clamps that circumscribe a pole. No means are provided to facilitate sign changing and no means are provided for protecting a sign from the effects of weather.
A spring clip that lightly grips upstanding posts, trees and the like is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,262,873 to Wise. The Wise device includes no means for sheltering or protecting documents from the elements, and the light grip provided may be unacceptable in some applications.
What is needed, then, is a sign holder that eases the task of sign changing and which protects a sign from the elements. The needed device should also be attachable to a vertical or horizontal post, tree, or other suitable support surface in the absence of bolts and other tool-requiring fastening means. The device should also be attractive and professional in appearance to maximize its aesthetic appeal.
However, in view of the art taken as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not perceived by those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention that the needed device should be provided nor was it obvious how the needed device could be provided.